Su Jiu forcibly suppressed the urge to slap the [Dragon Saliva Stone] back into Su Ji's face.
She stiffened her expression again, her voice cooling by three degrees.
"Speak."
Seeing Su Jiu's demeanor soften slightly, Su Ji quickly seized the opportunity. "It's crucial."
As expected, though Su Jiu didn't ask directly, her perked ears and slight forward lean betrayed her curiosity.
Su Ji cleared his throat, his exaggerated expression fading as an unprecedented gravity settled over him.
"Junior Sister, do you remember when I asked you if Foundation Establishment requires overcoming a lightning tribulation?"
Su Jiu paused, then nodded without a word.
Su Ji continued, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"When I establish my foundation, there will definitely be a lightning tribulation."
"And not just any ordinary one."
He hesitated, recalling the visions from his glimpse into fate.
"To be precise, it's a divine punishment."
"Once I begin my Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, the divine punishment will descend, covering at least a fifty-mile radius centered on me."
"At that moment, you, me, and everyone in the Love-Longing Sect—every living thing—will be reduced to ashes in an instant."
The cavern fell into a terrifying silence.
Only the distant roars of the fire drake and the bubbling of flowing magma could be heard.
Su Jiu was inclined to believe him.
Su Ji's ability to foresee the future was nothing short of horrifying.
No wonder...
"So, you came here to..."
Su Ji cut her off. "Exactly."
"This is the only solution I could think of."
"Only deep underground, hundreds of meters below the surface, can I possibly evade the divine punishment and complete my Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!"
The sheer weight of his words left Su Jiu's mind racing as she pieced everything together.
Even in the midst of his life-or-death pursuit of the Dao, Su Ji had still taken the time to retrieve the potentially useful [Dragon Saliva Stone] for her.
Her fingers tightened around the still-warm stone, her knuckles whitening as her clear fox eyes filled with doubt.
"But... Senior Brother, are you certain this place can shield you from the tribulation?"
Her voice carried skepticism as she laid out the facts.
"We're barely a hundred zhang beneath the surface."
"Given what you've described—if the tribulation's power truly spans fifty miles centered on you..."
"This... given its destructive force... there's a ninety percent chance it won't work."
She wasn't questioning him—just stating the obvious.
A hundred zhang underground might seem deep to an ordinary cultivator, but against what Su Ji called a "divine punishment," such distance would hardly be enough.
"Though... the power might be slightly diminished..."
Yet, Su Ji showed no trace of panic.
"I don't know. All I know is that if I stay here, I'll survive the tribulation."
His words shattered Su Jiu's understanding.
How?
If the Heavenly Dao intends to punish you, how could simply changing locations make it relent?
This defied all logic!
"But—"
"Junior Sister." Su Ji interrupted again, leaning in abruptly until their faces were inches apart.
His gaze locked onto her bewildered fox-like eyes.
"Has any future I've foreseen ever deviated from reality?"
Su Jiu fell silent.
No.
Not even the slightest discrepancy.
"I only have one life. I wouldn't gamble with it."
Su Jiu was at a loss for words.
She trusted Su Ji.
But she couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind this.
It contradicted every bit of cultivation knowledge she had learned from her clan's ancient texts.
Seeing her still-furrowed brows, Su Ji abruptly shifted topics.
"Don't waste time worrying about the tribulation."
"Instead, you should focus on... something else."
"What else?"
Su Ji's expression darkened further, more solemn than when he had mentioned the "divine punishment."
"Besides the divine punishment..."
"When I establish my foundation, I'll also trigger... an inner demon."
An inner demon?
Su Jiu froze.
Her lips parted, but no words came out.
Divine punishment and an inner demon?
Anyone listening would think a supreme expert was ascending to the upper realm.
Was this really the kind of spectacle a Qi Refining cultivator should face when breaking through to Foundation Establishment?
Su Ji's troubles seemed even more outrageous than those of a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox like her.
"Are you certain, Senior Brother?"
Her voice wavered slightly.
Su Ji nodded heavily, his face etched with helpless resignation.
"Absolutely."
Su Jiu was truly at a loss now.
Her delicate brows knitted as she frantically combed through her clan's records for any mention of inner demons.
"Inner demons... I know very little."
Her voice was soft, tinged with defeat.
"But like heavenly tribulations, outsiders can hardly interfere."
"I do have some methods to calm the mind and steady the spirit—ways to help you stabilize your consciousness."
"But when it comes to confronting the inner demon... in the end, you'll have to rely on yourself."
The moment she finished speaking, Su Ji's eyes lit up. He seized her hand and began playing with her fingers.
"Any help is better than none!"
Buff or no buff, he'd take what he could get.
Su Jiu was caught off guard by his sudden enthusiasm.
She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Su Ji only tightened his grip.
"Senior Brother, let go first."
"This... this method is a bit... unconventional."
"How unconventional?"
Her cheeks flushed as she averted her gaze, unable to meet his unnervingly bright eyes.
"It's called [Soul and Flesh Entwined]."
Her voice was barely audible, the last few words likely only reaching her own ears.
"It's a secret art of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox lineage, usable only by those with pure bloodline."
"To perform it, the caster and recipient must... synchronize their minds, merge their spiritual senses, and become one."
Su Ji blinked, baffled.
"Junior Sister, speak plainly. I don’t understand."
Su Jiu bit her lower lip.
"Don’t worry about it. If you truly can’t overcome the inner demon, then we’ll discuss it..."
She doubted it would come to that.
Just look at Su Ji—even while fleeing for his life, he couldn’t resist taunting the fire drake.
How could someone like him possibly have an inner demon?
If anything, the ones developing inner demons should be the people who crossed paths with him.
+【Epic Battles!】 "Your Highness, they say Linxi Temple is miraculous. Won’t you make a wish?" "A wish? It should be making wishes to me." "That may be so, but since you’re already here..." "..." "Fine. Then grant this princess a consort to play with." "He must be obedient, devoted, and utterly infatuated with my body—so much so that he’d kneel and kiss my feet." "Your Highness, that’s not a consort. That’s a dog." "Then add clever, witty, heroic, ambitious yet pragmatic..." "Hmm, that’s enough for now. I’ll add more later." After tossing out these words half in jest, Princess Anle departed the temple—only to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Bodhisattva statue smiling at her. Meanwhile, Yang An, fresh out of university, was having a very bad day. Good news: He’d transmigrated into another world with a cheat granting tenfold combat power. Bad news: He’d immediately fallen into the clutches of a certain villainess. Good news: Said villainess possessed peerless beauty and royal status. Bad news: She was absolutely monstrous!!! In the frozen wilderness, Yang An knelt beneath Qin Guo’er’s feet, drenched in sweat despite the cold. Desperately clutching her porcelain-perfect foot—the very one poised to crush his throat—he could only think: How do I survive this?! Need answers NOW!
th】 【No prior gaming knowledge required】【The First Cultivation + Game Design Novel on the Platform】 In a world where the righteous path dominates and crushes the demonic sects, Lu Ze unlocks the "Son of the Demon Path" system. Killing righteous cultivators now grants him power-ups. Wait—deaths in illusions count too? As a former game designer, Lu Ze decides to give the cultivators of this world a little—no, a massive—shock... Sect Elders: "What is this 'Escape from the Demon Sect' game? Why have all our disciples abandoned cultivation to play it??" Elite Disciples: "You're saying... mastering 'Demon Slayer' can help us counter demonic schemes?" Reclusive Masters: "Why did I leave seclusion? Ask that backstabbing rat who ambushed me in 'Eternal Strife' yesterday!" Rogue Cultivators & Civilians: "'Immortal Abyss Action' is addictive! You can even earn spirit stones by loot-running..." Sect Prodigy: "My Dao heart is unshakable... except for that cursed black hammer." Royal Scions: "Can skins have stat boosts? I’ll pay 10,000 spirit stones for one!!" Sect Leader: "WHO IS CORRUPTING MY DISCIPLES?!!!"
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
